President Aleksandar Vucic claims his party’s victory in the legislative elections, the opposition denounces fraud

The head of state claimed victory even before the official results were announced.

A few hours after the closing of the polling stations, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, claimed, on Sunday December 17, the victory of his party, the SNS (nationalist right), in the legislative elections. The presidential party would emerge strengthened, with at least 127 seats out of the 250 in the Serbian Parliament. “We will have an absolute majority in Parliament with 127 seats” he declared confidently at a press conference, based on 76% of the ballots counted on Sunday evening.

However, the official results are not expected before Monday evening, recalled the opposition united under the banner “Serbia against violence” (SPN) which would win 23.5% of the votes, according to estimates. This coalition, born from the demonstrations which shook the country in May, after the death of 19 people in two shootings, has continued to denounce a biased campaign, tainted according to it by fraud.

Marinika Tepic, leader of the SPN list, castigated a “production of voters who live neither in Serbia nor in Belgrade, and which constitutes a flagrant violation of the law”. His running mate, Radomir Lazovic, spoke of irregularities “of the dirtiest electoral process”, evoking “vote buying, fake signatures…” The opposition also claimed that busloads had arrived in Belgrade to let non-residents vote. Accusations that Prime Minister Ana Brnabic brushed aside during a press conference in the evening.